Introduction to the Editions of the &lt;i&gt;'Phags pa thabs kyi zhags pa pad ma 'phreng gi don bsdus pa&lt;/i&gt; and its Commentary | Acknowledgements | Note on Transliteration of Tibetan / Abbreviations and List of Sigla used in the Editions | Introduction | Textual Analysis | Padmasambhava, the &lt;i&gt;Thabs zhags&lt;/i&gt; and its Commentary | Critical Edition of the Root Text (&lt;i&gt;TZ&lt;/i&gt;), of the &lt;i&gt;'Phags pa tabs kyi zhags pa pad ma 'phreng gi don bsdus pa&lt;/i&gt; | Edition of the Commentary (&lt;i&gt;TZComm&lt;/i&gt;), The &lt;i&gt;'PPhags pa thabs kyi zaghs pa pad ma 'phreng gidon bsdus pa'i 'grel pa&lt;/i&gt;) | Appendix | Bibliography | Index

The inspiration for this volume is one of the most celebrated documents retrieved from the ancient cave library in Dunhuang: a tantric commentary in 85 folios together with its root text, and prolific marginal annotations that are not found elsewhere. It provides our most reliable and comprehensive window into the ritual and doctrinal world of the early Nyingmapa. Among much else, it offers an unparalleled early representation of Padmasambhava, a detailed presentation of fundamental Nyingma tantric views later endorsed by Rongzom and Longchenpa, and citations attributed to numerous other Nyingma tantras.

A good half of the book is devoted to editorial efforts, including a discussion of how they can be applied to Tibetan literature. The Dunhuang manuscript itself is shown to be defective in several respects, including accidental loss of chapters, while centuries of scribal mishaps have deprived the commentary as traditionally transmitted of a third of its contents. Even the root text has become distorted in most popular canonical editions. By collating all twenty-one extant witnesses drawn from Dunhuang, the Tenjurs, Kanjurs both mainstream and local, and the various Ancient Tantra Collections, stemmatic analysis establishes their sometimes unexpected historical relationships. Armed with that understanding, an accurate reconstruction of the contours of both texts becomes possible for the first time in many centuries, and numerous readings of the root text earlier even than the Dunhuang ms can be recovered 

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A Noble Noose of Methods, The Lotus Garland Synopsis: A Mahayoga Tantra and its Commentary

Preface and acknowledgements | Note on Transliteration of Tibetan | Introductory Chapters | History and Doctrine | Soteriological Ritual Texts | Scriptural Texts | Miscellaneous | Bibliography | Index

The exact circumstances of the emergence of what are now known as the rNying ma traditions of Tibetan Buddhism remain among the least clearly defined areas of Tibetan history for modern scholarship. What has made the early history of rNying ma tantrism so opaque is the dearth of reliable historical sources. In response to such uncertainty, Cantwell and Mayer have turned to the Dunhuang cache in search of further evidence. Their specific focus has been the Dunhuang texts on Phur pa, many of which have never been read before. This focus was chosen because from comparatively early times, the Phur pa tradition developed enormously within Tibet itself, and always remained a particularly rNying ma practice. Phur pa's early and enduring popularity might therefore to some extent coincide with or reflect the emergence of rNying ma as a distinct tradition. This volume addresses an important question that has not so far been approached: how exactly do the Dunhuang tantric texts compare with those of the received rNying ma tradition? The authors review, transliterate, translate, and analyse all Dunhuang texts on Phur pa so far identified, discovering an unexpectedly close relationship to the received tradition. There is also an essay exploring reasons for Phur pa's popularity in post-Imperial Tibet. Thanks to the generosity of the British Library, a CD is included with digital images of over 100 pages of the original manuscripts. 

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Early Tibetan Documents on Phur pa from Dunhuang

Part 1: General Introduction | Part 4: Appendices | Foreword and Acknowledgements | Part 3: The Editions of the Two Texts | Part 2: Features of the two texts | Bibliography

The 1,000 plus texts of the Ancient Tantra Collection (rNying ma'i rgyud 'bum) contain many of the oldest examples of Tantric literature in Tibetan. They also contain many of the most important examples of Buddhist Tantric literature surviving in any language. Their contribution to Tibetan religion and culture over the last 1,200 years has been incalculable, and remains undiminished in modern times. Yet, like most manuscript traditions of such great antiquity, centuries of accumulated scribal corruption have reduced them in a great many cases almost to incomprehensibility, even to the most learned Tibetan lamas. Modern times have been a particularly testing period for this great scriptural tradition, above all because the Chinese invasion of Tibet led to the destruction of an estimated 95% of its extant witnesses. In this work, Cantwell and Mayer attempt to start the immense task of restoring these wonderful texts to their original state through textual criticism. They discuss the received scribal state of the texts, their surviving editions, and different possible methods of restoring them through textual criticism. They produce editions of two importang texts, also considering features of their original compilation, and commentarial usage of them. This is intended as a small contribution towards the eventual restoration of the entire tradition. 

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Cathy Cantwell

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A Noble Noose of Methods, The Lotus Garland Synopsis: A Mahayoga Tantra and its Commentary

Early Tibetan Documents on Phur pa from Dunhuang

The Kilaya Nirvana Tantra and the Vajra Wrath Tantra: Two Texts from the Ancient Tantra Collection